Eric Perry, center, leans on the back of a pick-up truck hours after finding the body of Jesse Cale in the Hudson River. 18-year-old Cale had been missing since Friday. Photo Erica Miller

GREENWICH -- The search for missing Schuylerville High School senior has reached a grim conclusion: state police confirmed Thursday that Jesse Cale's body was located in the Hudson River near where he was last seen.

Cale disappeared while looking for firewood in Greenwich last Friday night. He, his father and two family friends had started a campfire, but decided they needed more firewood to be able to cook hot dogs. Cale walked into the woods to gather firewood and never returned.

Paul Byers -- who was "Uncle Paul" to Cale -- was at the campfire last weekend and was one of the people who identified Cale's body Thursday afternoon.

I had wanted to do one final walk-through," said Byers, who said he went out into the woods alone Thursday afternoon. He ran into Eric Perry, who also was doing a walk-through of the area where Cale went missing.

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"I just decided I'd come out today and lend a hand," Perry said.

That's when he saw a hoodie in the water, about 15 feet off the shore.

He ran back toward the road and found Byers.

"As soon as I saw the hoodie, I knew it was Jesse's," Byers said. "I jumped in the water and I felt him, but I couldn't pull him out. I just got sick as could be."

Neither men could pull Cale out of the water and soon abandoned the effort. Byers ran to the Cale residence to call 911.

By 3 p.m., Cale's body was being transported to Albany Medical Center for an autopsy.

At Cale's home, family and friends gathered to comfort each other. One family member walked down the driveway to tell the media what a note posted at the bottom of the driveway already said: "We love all your support, but please respect."

Schuylerville High School principal Matt Sickles, said Thursday afternoon he received the news from state police just after students were dismissed for the day. A statement was posted on the school's website and Sickles said he is planning to meet with his crisis team to determine how to address Cale's death with the student body Friday. Cale was a senior set to graduate next month.

"We're deeply saddened," he said. "Our hearts go out to the family."

Counselors will be available at the school Friday and into the future, Sickles said.

The wooded area where Cale went missing and the nearby area of the river were searched for three full days by teams including state police, state forest rangers and other volunteers and trained searchers.

The Cale family continued searching the area after officials called off their ground search Monday evening. The area holds the remaining structure of several defunct mills. Brick and metal bridges, turbines and other structures are in the water in that area, creating underwater passages. Several channels also criss-cross the wooded area where the group set up a campfire. The channels lead through the former mill's structures and into the river.

Two people who knew Jesse were walking in the area where he was found. "It's just horrible," said the man, who did not want to give his name. "He was a beautiful kid."